The Roman Catholic Diocese of Reykjavík is a

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

of the

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

which covers the whole of the country of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, and numbered 11,454 Catholics on January 1, 2014. It reports directly to the Holy See of Rome.

History

The

Apostolic Prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Iceland was created in 1923 and this was elevated to an

Apostolic Administration An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

in 1929, which in turn was elevated to the status of a diocese in 1968. In 2015 the then

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

, Pierre Bürcher retired and Father Dávid Bartimej Tencer, OFM Cap., was appointed to succeed him as the fifth bishop of the diocese. The bishop of Reykjavík participates in the

Scandinavian Bishops Conference The Nordic Bishops' Conference ( la, Conferentia Episcopals Scandiæ) is an episcopal conference of Roman Catholic bishops covering the Nordic countries of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland. At present, it has 12 members who represen ...

. The vicar general is Fr. Patrick Breen, rector of Landakot Cathedral, Christ the King Parish. The Diocese of Reykjavík is a modern creation. The medieval church was represented by the sees of

Skálholt Skálholt (Modern Icelandic: ; non, Skálaholt ) is a historical site in the south of Iceland, at the river Hvítá. History Skálholt was, through eight centuries, one of the most important places in Iceland. A bishopric was established in Sk� ...

(created 1056) and

Hólar Hólar (; also Hólar í Hjaltadal ) is a small community in the Skagafjörður district of northern Iceland. Location Hólar is in the Hjaltadalur valley, some from the national capital of Reykjavík. It has a population of around 100. It is th ...

(1106), but these became Lutheran during the Reformation. (These two sees were amalgamated in 1801 into a single diocese under the

Bishop of Iceland The following is a list of Lutheran bishops of Iceland. List See also * List of Skálholt bishops *List of Hólar bishops A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations ...

in the Lutheran

Church of Iceland The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland ( is, Hin evangelíska lúterska kirkja), also called the National Church ( is, Þjóðkirkjan), is the officially established Christian church in Iceland. The church professes the Lutheran faith an ...

.) Iceland remained without Roman Catholic prelates until the Apostolic Prefecture was established at Reykjavík in 1923.

Episcopal ordinaries

Apostolic Prefecture of Iceland

# Martin Meulenberg, SMM (12 June 1923 – 3 August 1941) #

Jóhannes Gunnarsson Jóhannes Gunnarsson, SMM (3 August 1897—17 June 1972) was an Icelandic prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Apostolic Vicar of Iceland from 1942 until his resignation in 1967. Biography Jóhannes Gunnarsson was born in Re ...

, SMM (23 February 1942 – 14 October 1967)

Diocese of Reykjavík

# Hendrik Hubert Frehen, SMM (18 October 1968 – 31 October 1986) # Alfred James Jolson, SJ (12 December 1987 – 21 March 1994) # Joannes Gijsen (24 May 1996 – 30 October 2007) # Pierre Bürcher (30 October 2007 – 18 September 2015) # Dávid Bartimej Tencer, OFM Cap. (18 September 2015 – )

Coat of arms

The proposal of coat of arms created

Marek Sobola Marek Sobola (born 3 July 1981) is an authorised landscape architect, professional gardener and heraldic artist from Slovakia. Biography Sobola was born in Žilina, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) into a family from Lalinok and Divina. He spe ...

, a heraldic specialist from Slovakia, who also made a coat of arms for the new Bishop Tencer recently. These are based on the Icelandic flag and an older stamp of the Diocese. He prepared three different variations. Then the priests, nuns and the staff at the Bishop's office, a total of 42 persons, were involved in choosing the ones they thought were best, and thus the final selection was made.

Footnotes

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Reykjavík

Statistics relating to Iceland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese of Reykjavik Reykjavik Christian organizations established in 1923 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century Catholic Church in Iceland